Wild Horses
by Michelle Leahh
Summary: Rose & Bella were bests, but everything changed after Bella's mother re-married. Now a burnt-high school dropout, Bella spends her nights curled against any warm body. What happens when the one person who writes her off, is the one meant to save her. Dark


Hey guys, welcome to my first story about this amazing fandom. It's pretty nifty, huh? Twilight I mean. I'm not sure if the story if good, but that's where you readers come in, right. :D

Anyway, I hope you like it, the chapter is named after the song that inspired the chapter, World Spins Madly On - The Weepies.

Listen to it, it's a great song.

Anyways; I have to finish memorizing a spanish essay, or I'm going to be a meal to the Volturi.

Before it begins I want to do a shout out to the most amazing beta's in the world: Darien, Kelly, and Maegan! You guys rock, honestly I'd die without them.

Also, I don't own twilight, instead its an out of control obsession.

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"What the hell?" I looked over at my brother's girlfriend, who winced as she spoke, and followed her line of sight.

Curled in the corner of the room was Isabella "Bella" Marie Swan, Rosalie's best friend from kindergarten to their first year of high school. Her lips sucking on some random guy's neck, her body spooned against him. The girl would do anything for some coke and booze. This wasn't the first time I had seen her at a frat party, it was, nonetheless one of the reasons I had stopped going; I was a sophomore in college while she was a senior in high school. To think she was once at our house…

"Who the fuck let her come here?" Rosalie said and stared at the vacant girl. Her manicured hand flipped her blond hair over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes.

"It's a frat party, Rose. They let anyone walk through that door_." God, I need a beer._

Hell, why was I even here, if only people saw me. The great Edward Cullen, king of Dartmouth, noosed in a corner at a frat party due to the demands of a girl. Well not Rosalie's demands, we were inducting my younger sister, Alice, into the wonderful college life. Yes, Dartmouth was a Cullen school.

I turned away from Bella, who really cared about a lost teen anyway? It's not like she impacted my life in a way that changed me for the better or worse. I looked through the throngs of people and found my sliver of a sister, Alice, while she bounced up and down talking to Jasper. Poor Jasper, if only in high school he knew what he got himself into. I smiled at the thought.

"What's so funny, Cullen?" I turned my head slightly to the right to see where the voice came from. _Ah, Tanya Denali. _

"Alice," I nodded my head to the pixie girl.

"Isn't she a little young to be getting herself caught in all this trouble?" Tanya, ever the tactless bitch smiled, "it's not like it did you well."

I chuckled, "it's better than what happened to you." She laughed, or more likely, chimed; I always loved our sexual banter.

Once upon a time, Tanya and I, for lack of a better word 'dated'; put up all that fictitious shit for my mom, who was beginning to think I would never settle down: now we just fuck. I didn't have time for relationships. Out of all my siblings, I was the only one who had never found my significant other in high school. They called it fate; I called it bullshit

During high school, I never had a 'real' steady girlfriend. In fact, I lost my virginity to Jessica Stanley; I was a sophomore and she was a senior. Now that I thought back on it, it really couldn't have been more pathetic. I kept to studies and myself through my years at high school. Of course, I had the couple of dates and a few warm bodies, but I wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other kids in our school.

I turned back around to see that Rosalie had attached herself to Emmett. I snorted at the sight of them. "Well, I just can't find one woman to be infatuating."

"We know this." Tanya licked her lips. "Buy me a drink?"

"Not tonight Tanya, I have to get up early tomorrow." I thought about my mother, I truly hated the guilt trips that she laid on thick.

"For what?"

I thought briefly how we weren't all technically related. Our mother, Esme, once suffered from chronic depression; funny thing was she seems like the happiest person now. So she and Carlisle, our father, decided to adopt; he was too busy to raise kids of his own and Esme had always been a social worker. For some hidden reason, they decided they wanted teenagers. Hence, you got the three of us: Alice, Emmett, and me.

"I have to help out at her homeless shelter."

After raising us, Esme, decided to help the less fortunate. It just so happened it was the only one in a hundred mile radius, next closest was in Vermont. She found that to be a gold winning prize, it didn't seem to faze her that we lived in the second richest county in the state.

"I heard about that. How's it going?" Tanya leaned closer, her strawberry blonde hair grazed my cheek and she placed her hand on my chest. The girl just couldn't take a hint.

"It's getting there," I smiled. As I looked down at her, I noticed that time hadn't aged the homecoming queen. She was beautiful, breathtaking even; I just couldn't find her captivating anymore. Most men, on the other hand, would get on their hands and knees to have had her in their bedrooms, let alone their bed. "We should get together sometime soon though." _What? I am a man._

"Sounds enticing," she smiled, "I, however, am going to charm myself a beer. See you soon, Hun." Her red lips curved up as she set off to flirt with one of the new frat kids.

I needed to leave; I was too old for this kegger shit. I scanned the crowd and noticed Bella and nameless man had left; I also saw my brother, Emmett. He stood against the wall with two full red cups in his hand. Emmett was older than me by 3 months. Rosalie and Jasper are both twins, who were two years behind Emmett and I; we had all been best friends since middle school, so it was no wonder we knew Bella semi well.

I noticed the younger frat boys were moving quickly around Emmett as they made their way to the keg. He smiled at the passer-bys and I realized that Rosalie was nowhere near him. He hadn't been without her since high school; he was captain of the football team and homecoming king our senior year of high school. It really was a fairytale story for Rosalie and him, considering she was captain of the cheerleading team. Cliché much?

He had been pussywhipped ever since.

I squeezed my way through the crowd to be next to Emmett. "Where'd Rose go?"

The big oaf smiled at me and chugged the rest of his cup. "She went to complain. Apparently there were people here she didn't see to her tasting, and well, you know Rose, she always needs to have it her way." He placed his empty cup on the end table to his left as I sighed at the thought of Rosalie getting rid of Bella.

"Does it really matter that she's here?" I knew Rosalie would find a problem with her ex-best friend, but who gave a shit? The girl was a doped up whore, who just looked for the next drug to be pumped into her body. _Well, maybe not just drugs._

Emmett shrugged, his curly black hair hung in his eyes as they darted around the room. "You know Rose. She's gotta be the ringleader." He winked his eyes at me and suddenly his dimple-baring smile faded, "listen, we both know how she felt after Bella…" He stopped mid-sentence and lowered his eyes to the ground.

An awkward silence enveloped us.

"Well, I'm going; I promised mom I'd help at the shelter tomorrow." Emmett rolled his eyes.

"You just got here, tell mom you can't do it."

"You know mom, she's got her heart set on me going; besides it looks good on my résumé." I really shouldn't be here. I started to glance around the room for Alice. I figured she would be with Jasper, since they had been inseparable since high school too. I was pretty sure that Alice was his first, but I'd never ask him that. I would save that for Emmett, he was the least shameful. Jasper and Alice started dating when he was a senior and she a junior. It didn't surprise me; they were more similar than they let on.

"Well then have fun, golden boy." He patted, or really punched my back, and smiled so the dimples on his face grew tenfold; he really needed to stop lifting weights, "Tell mom I said hi."

I grunted and glanced around the room one last time, "Tell Alice to be safe, I don't want my sister to be taken advantage of at her first frat party."

"I think Jasper would kill the first guy that lays his hands on her," he replied. "Besides, I think she could take anyone in this room, I taught her well." I scoffed, between being forced to help him with football practice and Rosalie's desperate torture for a clone of herself; Alice could deal with any situation.

Of course Alice was the youngest, and smallest, but she probably can pack more than us all. Obviously, I loved Alice with all my heart.

I walked out the door and into my car. A beautiful Volvo S60R, it was my life. I got it when I was a senior and I wouldn't trade it in for the world. It was custom built, including its engine, which even makes it more of a find than most. Esme and Carlisle must've really loved me. Then again Emmett's first car was a custom monster Jeep Wrangler, soft-top, and Alice's was a Porsche 911 Turbo. I guess mine wasn't really a bank-breaker compared to theirs.

I started my car and put it into drive. It wasn't a long drive to my off-campus apartment; I had to drive past the slums, but most people weren't up this time of night anyway. Not that the slums were a big section; there might had been a total of five houses. Ever since the 1950's, Hanover had been an exclusive section of the rich. It was named the second best place for the elite to live in the US. Of course, the total five houses actually bordered Norwich and Hanover, but eh, they weren't close to where my family or I live.

After I lived in the dorm life of college, I was granted the privilege of being able to own my own apartment off campus. Nice area, nice view, and especially nice privacy; something I had never had growing up. As I drove through the college campus, I saw a figure walking the streets ahead of me.

_I'll. Be. Damned. _

Bella fucking Swan

To tell the truth, I wasn't surprised. The girl dropped out of high school senior year and probably didn't own a car or a license; she resided in the worst of the five houses.

Years ago, her house was nice. Years ago, Rosalie and she were friends. Rose would bring her over from time to time, when Bella wasn't with her other friends. But that was before she changed.

I watched her from behind, she looked cold and her hands pumped at the skin of her arms, or should I say bones. The girl looked like she hadn't eaten in weeks. _Must be the coke._

I didn't feel sorry for her -not one bit- she chose the road she went down, however, my mom would frown at the fact that I would just drive by an old close friend of the family. I stopped just behind her and debated whether I should offer her a ride or pass by her. The second sounded more inviting, but she was wearing short sleeves.

_What the hell is she thinking?_ It was December, in fucking New Hampshire, maybe she wanted to die.

I slowly pulled my car up beside her and scrolled the window down. "Bella?" She tilted her head to the side and frowned. She looked down at her feet and kept moving, shifting her feet faster. Her breath increased causing a white pant to pass out of her lips.

"Do you need a ride?" I glanced from her to the road then back to her. Her hair had reached her back and was greasy; it clung to her snow-white skin. She looked hollow. Vacant. Like a shell of the girl she once was.

She didn't answer but just kept walking and rubbing her bones. "I don't know if you remember me, I'm Edward Cullen. You use to come over my house with Rosalie Hale. She was you're best fr-" She stopped and glared at me.

"I know who you are; I'm not a fucking idiot." She bit her lip and stood there. She looked like a skeleton.

_And she talks. _I smiled, "Do you want a ride?"

"Walking is good for the heart," she turned back around began to walk. _Yeah, but the drugs aren't._

I looked at the clock on the dashboard it was almost one, "look, it's 20 degrees outside you must be cold. Why can't I just give you a ride home, you're on my way."

She bit her chalked bottom lip and I knew I was cracking her down. I pulled up beside her and unlock the car door; it was all the invitation she needed before she had practically jumped in next to me. I turned the heat up as high as it could go and rolled the window back up at the touch of a button.

We drove in silence; an awkward silence. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye and saw how lost she looks. Her eyes were still brown but an unsettling black ring had surrounded them. Sitting in my car, surrounded by black leather, huddled in her corner gripping at her waist, she looked like a mangled girl who grew up too fast.

I needed to put an end to this torturing silence, "you should put your seatbelt on."

"Maybe you should do the same," she quickly retorted. I couldn't help but chuckle at her defense mechanism.

"So how did you like the party?"

"It was the same as every night. James asked me to go, so I did. It would have been fine had Rosalie not asked me to leave. She's a fucking bitch." Her voice was hoarse and it reeked of vodka and cigarettes, something I had never been fond of.

"Rosalie's just …" I searched for the right words to fill the sentence that shed my brother's girlfriend some justice.

"The devil's spawn?" She smiled; it looked good on her.

I cleared my throat about to defend her as I pulled up to the Swan household. It looked like a dump. The windows were shattered and the sole light came from the living room television, while white paint was peeling off the sides of the house and its shudders dangled from the windows. The landscape outside looks like it was abandoned, and hadn't been touched in years; the grass was in the least six inches high.

"What the fuck are you doing," She screeched. "Keep moving. If Phil sees, he'll beat my ass."

I pulled down the street and stopped at the corner. What the fuck was wrong with this girl? She stared at me numbly, mumbling curses under her breath. She opened the door and slammed it shut, never muttering a thank you. I stared after her retreating form and wondered what happened to her.

I drove to my apartment, my thoughts never ridding of Bella. Her family used to be perfect: a mother, a father, and her; it was fucking close to a nuclear family if you asked me. I knew her parent's divorced when Rosalie and she started going through their own problems, but still. I saw her in high school change for the worse, but I never knew she had gotten so bad.

_Who the fuck gives a shit? She is just a little girl, who thinks her life is a piece of shit. At least she isn't fucking homeless._

I shoved Bella Swan out of my thoughts before I made it to my bed before passing out. I really didn't want to work at the shelter tomorrow.

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So, how was it?

Horrible? Yeah, I had a feeling.

Well you should tell me how you feel because I'm totally wetting my pants just in waiting.

Michelle.

P.S.

more reviews = faster updates.


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